Plans to build a petrol station, hotel, pub and drive-thru restaurant on the outskirts of Newtown would impact the town in a "massive way".

Town centre businesses have raised concerns that the proposed development near the bypass in Llanidloes Road would affect the number of visitors coming to spend time and money.

However, Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council's Economy and Environment Committee heard that a lack of hotel accommodation in town is hindering opportunities to host live theatre productions and international sport events.

Cllr Richard Edwards, chair, said: "Overall the hotel would be beneficial to the area but we don’t want this to be the start of a large out of town development in that space."

Councillors called for a full economic assessment about what the proposed development would mean for the town centre, and have urged all local residents and business to share their views to developers Berrys by December 24.

Newtown Mayor Richard Williams said: "A hotel would be a great addition to Newtown. We’ve been talking about that for a long time. We’ve been told by businesses, especially Theatre Hafren that they can’t put on live shows without hotels in Newtown."

Cllr Edwards agreed, adding that Newtown Football Club can't host international matches in the town because there needs to be a certain amount of accommodation available for visitors.

However, Cllr Jackie Davies said the proposal is "quite concerning" for existing town centre hotel and bed and breakfast businesses.

"I think it will have a massive impact. Having a hotel there is going to have a huge impact on the town bringing visitors in. Yes, it's alright for businesses to have healthy competition with each other but people will drive over and won’t come into town."

Councillors were also asked to "seriously" consider asking Powys County Council to review community boundaries. The proposed development would be within the Mochdre community boundary, not the Newtown boundary.

The Mayor said: "The difficulty for us is that this will impact Newtown in a massive way. It’s a major settlement a couple of metres from the boundary.

"It’s a shame it's outside our boundary. It's something we need to take seriously by asking Powys County Council to undertake a community review in changing the boundaries. I think this gives us the evidence to support that."